ARTICLES ABOUT INDIAN ART BY DATE - PAGE 5

When you sit in an airline waiting to take off with an 'Absolut Subodh Gupta' staring back at you from the partition that divides the 'classes', you know contemporary Indian art is not a new bogus religion. It is a leap of faith. Particularly, if you alight from the aircraft to be greeted by an 'Absolut Bharati Kher' in the airport lobby. There is a case to be made about how contemporary Indian contemporary art has become. It is emerging as every day excursions with the Indian Art Fair holding the promise of a carnival of excess.

Sorrow was overarching sentiment in the year for Indian art as it witnessed the death of two stalwarts - M F Husain and Jehangir Sabavala - bringing to an end an illustrious period. While Husain, an ex-cinema billboard painter who became a globally sought after artist, died in self-exile in London in June at the age of 95, modern painter Sabavala, who mixed impressionist and cubist styles, died September at 89 years. Also, Sohan Qadri and Biren De, two prominent names in the field of art passed away.

NEW DELHI: Even as Indian art is gradually beginning to be recognised globally and local artists are seen at art fairs across the world, focused efforts like building more museums, imparting art education in schools and producing good art books is the need of the hour, say experts. "Art from India is represented in art fairs in Dubai Brazil, Shangai etc but it is still a drop in the ocean. We need to do much more to be at par internationally," says Sushma Bahl , an independent arts adviser, writer, and curator of cultural projects.

During this period of economic uncertainty, the art market too has had its share of ups and downs. Perhaps, the lows have been more frequent than the highs, especially in the recent past. There has been a mixed response to art auctions as well. Certain auctions have performed exceedingly well while others have failed to make an impression. At a recent Sotheby's sale of impressionist and modern art, sales totaled close to USD 200 million where a majority of the 70 works on offer found buyers . At a Christie's auction of post-war and contemporary art, sales totaled USD 247.6 million where only nine of the 91 works remained unsold.

While the artists from this school scored at international auctions, they did not manage to touch the million dollar mark achieved by the Progressives With the passing away of MF Husain in London recently, Indian art's most maverick market maker has left the scene. There is no denying that it was Husain's efforts that brought Indian art into the reckoning internationally. And with his foot on the door, he succeeded in creating a niche for virtually all Progressive Group artists overseas.

KOLKATA: Domestic auctuioneer Saffronart has notched up total collections of Rs 17.50 crore in its summer auction of Indian art. The sale was spearheaded by Tyeb Mehta's 1998 Untitled canvas (Kali). This was the last Mehta painted in the Kali series . The work, which had a presale estimate of Rs 1.25-1.75 crore, eventually sold for an unprecedented Rs 5.72 crore which translates to US$1.31 million. At the same time, G Ravinder Reddy's monumental head went at Rs 1.41 crore, Manjit Bawa's 1993 canvas, Nayika, was picked up for Rs 1.08 crore, S H Raza's Carcassonne, which was created in 1951, was lapped up for Rs 95 lakh and Jehangir Sabavala's The Bangle Sellers was purchased for Rs 87.5 lakh.

We Indians have done a thousand lousy things. But near the top of the list is the hounding out of Maqbool Fida Husain, our greatest painter, who died abroad last week, aged 95. This was not an isolated incident: author Taslima Nasreen was also hounded out by communalists . These will remain terrible blots on a country claiming to have secular foundations. Husain had humble origins. In his youth, he scraped together a living by painting film advertisements on hoardings.

-- Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG Enterprises To call Maqbool Fida Husain merely a great artist would be an inadequate description of the man. Husain was a 'character' , an institution, artist, pioneer and enigma, all rolled into one. Clearly, he was the greatest painter India has ever had. On that there can be little debate. But what is equally important about him is the fact that he was a maverick, someone who would not hesitate to push the envelope and explore the limits of his art. That maverick nature is, perhaps, what defined Husain – whether it is his passion for the movies, his ability to think out of the box or his experimental nature.

NEW DELHI: MF Husain , who was forced by Hindu radicals to live in exile for his paintings of Hindu goddesses in the nude, on his death had the entire political class paying tributes for his contribution to Indian art. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described his death as a national loss. "In the passing away of MF Husain, the nation has lost an iconic artist and the art world one of its most colourful personalities, whose genius left a deep imprint on Indian art," Singh said in a statement.

Maqbool Fida Husain , an Indian contemporary painter, who has been called the Pablo Picasso of India, has died. He was 95. Husain, who mostly avoided wearing footwear , was born in Maharashtra and started his career painting movie posters and billboards. He had no formal training in art, according to his website. He died in London at 2:30 a.m. local time, said Sahba Husain, his daughterin-law . The cause of death isn't known yet, she said. The painter had been living overseas, mostly in London, following a 2006 court case where Hindu fundamentalist groups alleged that Husain denigrated Hindu goddesses by painting them nude.